“It’s going pretty well,” he said. “I’m up to 10 offers now and Wisconsin is pretty interested now. Sometimes it goes too good. For me, sometimes I wonder if I got just one offer, it’d make my decision so much easier. I’ve got 10 great schools that have offered me so far and I just have to look at all of them one at a time.”
Bisnowaty’s coach, Eric Ravotti, understands what his star player is going through since he was a highly-recruited athlete out of high school himself.
“You say it’s a blessing, but it’s also a curse,” said Ravotti, who ultimately chose Penn State. “For a 17-year-old young man to have this type of interest is good, but it’s bad because it makes it very difficult to make a decision in the end.
“I can only share with him my experiences and my thought process. But what I try to do more than anything else is stay out of the aspect of providing an opinion specifically on any school. This is one of those decisions that affects young men for the rest of their lives and it’s the first real grown-up decision that they themselves have to make. All you can do as a coach is provide as much information, pro and con, that you can and then let that young man make the decision that he feels good in making.”
Bisnowaty has offers from Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Virginia and West Virginia. He’s also receiving interest from the Badgers and Notre Dame. Ravotti isn’t surprised by the attention Bisnowaty has received so far.
“He’s a very skilled and talented, 6-6, 290-pound offensive tackle,” the coach said. “He has the frame to probably take him to 320, comfortably. He’s got great athletic ability, wonderful technique. He’s the total package of what you’re looking for in a good three-year starter at strong side tackle.”
Ravotti calls Bisnowaty’s athletic ability “very rare” for a kid his size.
“He’s only 17, so it’s amazing that he hasn’t even reached his potential yet,” Ravotti said. “He’s still very raw and that’s what’s so exciting and interesting about Adam. I’ve never seen a high school tackle that has the frame and athletic ability and the way he’s put together.”
Bisnowaty also runs track and wrestles, which Ravotti believes is a great benefit.
“It helps a tremendous amount, especially when they’re younger,” the coach said of wrestling. “Joint manipulation is big, placement of hands, being able to use leverage to your advantage, especially on the offensive line where it’s pretty much a battle every snap. All of those things bode well for offensive linemen and defensive linemen.”
Bisnowaty has already identified what’s most important to him when he's evaluating the schools.
“My biggest factor will be the way I feel on the campus,” he said. “The way I feel with the coaches and the current players. Every program you look at has a school and a football field, but every school has different coaches and different types of people who are there. I feel that’s what’s going to make my decision. If I feel at home and feel welcomed then that’ll be the right place for me.”
In his search to find that fit, he’s already taken trips to Pittsburgh, Penn State, West Virginia and Virginia.
“I’ve only been to Virginia once, but I’ve been to the others like three times just because they’re so easy to get to,” he said. “If I can get to them, I might as well go as many times as I can just to get the feel.”
The tour will continue during the month of June.
“I’m looking at doing this big loop,” he said. “We’re looking at Cincinnati, Purdue, Michigan State and Notre Dame right now. We may throw Wisconsin in there too. I have to make sure all of the coaches are going to be in. I know most of them go on vacation around that time and I don’t want to go there and have no one be there.”
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Charley Molnar is handling Bisnowaty’s recruitment. Molnar has been in the school to check on him, but through phone conversations, the Irish assistant expressed a strong interest.
“I talked to him about a month ago,” Bisnowaty said of Molnar. “He was basically telling me how if I show up on campus, they’ll probably offer me.”
Bisnowaty understands why Notre Dame wants the visit as a prerequisite.
“If you take the time to come see them, they realize that you’re actually interested,” he said. “It’s a good process. They might as well not even waste their time if a kid’s not interested. I definitely think it’s a school to look at just because of the tradition behind it and they just have a great name.”
Bisnowaty would love to add the Irish to his offer sheet, even if it makes his decision that much harder.
“It’d be great,” he said of the prospect of a Notre Dame offer. “To me, that’s the traditional school. Everybody talks about Penn State, but when I think about tradition, I think about Notre Dame. They have hard fans and they’ve always been good. They had their ups and downs a couple of years ago, but I think they’re on the right path now. Their alumni is fantastic and it’s a great school in a great area as well.”
Ravotti learned about Notre Dame’s tradition when he was a player.
“I was recruited by Notre Dame when I was in high school,” he said. “We played Notre Dame because that was back in the days when Penn State was an independent. We had them on the schedule almost every year. It’s just a great football program like many others out there. It’s got a great tradition, it’s got a great campus, great education and can take you a long way.”
Bisnowaty doesn’t plan on letting this decision hang over him throughout his senior season.
“I’m looking at taking three official visits to schools I can’t get to,” he said. “Maybe three weeks into the season at least knowing my top five or top three and deciding from there. If it takes longer, it takes longer, but I’d really like to get it over with.”
